Saudis Booked 500 Rooms At Trump Hotel In DC Just After 2016 Election

Just a month after Donald Trump was elected President in 2016, a group of Saudi lobbyists reserved 500 rooms at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., the Washington Post reported Wednesday.

At $768 per night, the 500 rooms totaled more than $270,000, according to the Post.

The lobbyists were associated with a campaign that offered free trips to D.C. for veterans who helped lobby against a law — that the Saudis reportedly opposed — on Capitol Hill, veterans and people who organized the trips told the Post. The group was previously paying for the veterans to stay in Northern Virginia, but after Trump was elected, they changed lodging to the luxury hotel.

People who organized the trip told the Post that they chose the Trump Hotel because it offered a discount.

Veterans who participated in the trip told the Post they don’t buy that explanation.

“It made all the sense in the world when we found out that the Saudis had paid for it,” Henry Garcia, a veteran who participated in the trip told the Post. “I said, ‘Oh, we were just used to give Trump money.’ ”